Impact UK Location: Bedford

REF impact found 11 Case Studies

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Antisemitism and multiculturalism: shaping new thinking among policymakers and NGOs

Summary of the impact

Professor David Feldman's research has influenced thinking about antisemitism, racism and multiculturalism among a range of organisations and policy makers. Since becoming first director of the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism in 2010, he has shaped its development by pursuing a distinctive course of public engagement, with partners such as the All Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, underpinned by the insights of his research over two decades. As a result, he and the Pears Institute are recognised as significant forces shaping public discourse and policy thinking on issues related to antisemitism.

Submitting Institution

Birkbeck College

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies
Philosophy and Religious Studies: Religion and Religious Studies

Creative writing and the professional development of aspiring authors

Summary of the impact

The creative writing produced at Leeds Trinity has led to, through numerous public engagement activities, a very considerable impact on the professional development of aspiring authors (both adults and young people). The English subject area has actively developed community links to foster creative writing locally, nationally and internationally. The research on which this is founded relates to two members of the UOA who have published fiction and poetry, respectively, and have engaged aspiring authors with their work through public readings, internet and broadcast media, workshops and readings in schools, Writers' Festivals, and residencies, as well as using their expertise in judging competitions. In doing so they have nurtured the joy and meaning of reading and creative writing amongst young people and adults, in the context of a contemporary culture that values technology/media and computer games.

Submitting Institution

Leeds Trinity University

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Cultural Studies, Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies

Fossils with “Outstanding Universal Value”, and public engagement with the history of life

Summary of the impact

Leicester's world-leading research into exceptionally well preserved fossils has crucially underpinned the successful establishment of a new UNESCO World Heritage Site in China. The Chengjiang Fossil Site in Yunnan Province is officially recognised by UNESCO as having "Outstanding Universal Value", containing fossils of soft-bodied sea-life dating from 530 million years ago. The fossils occur in a region where the minerals industry is a key economic driver: granting of World Heritage Site (WHS) status has removed the threat of encroaching commercial mining activities, secured conservation of the site, and paved the way for further sustainable, non-invasive tourism. The same research serves as a vehicle for raising awareness about the evolution of life, the history of biodiversity and the importance of `blue skies' research in the UK.

Submitting Institution

University of Leicester

Unit of Assessment

Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Earth Sciences: Geology
Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Biological Sciences: Evolutionary Biology

From private religion to public interaction: The Oxford Faculty of Theology and the Panacea Society

Summary of the impact

The Panacea Society was an inward-looking religious community formed in Bedford in 1919. In 2001 a few reclusive members remained — some of the last representatives of a religious sub- culture dating back to the 1790s. Since 2001, members of the Oxford Faculty of Theology have been instrumental in advising and enabling this Society to evolve from a closed religious group into a charity funding social and educational initiatives and a public museum explaining apocalyptic religion to general audiences. Oxford-based researchers have produced notable academic outputs through discoveries in the Panacea Society archives; findings which shaped and informed the new museum.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

Theology and Religious Studies

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Language, Communication and Culture: Literary Studies
History and Archaeology: Historical Studies
Philosophy and Religious Studies: Religion and Religious Studies

Richards

Summary of the impact

This case study concerns the impact of interdisciplinary research on policies and practices to support river restoration and the aims of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD), which requires member states to bring riverine hydromorphology and ecology to 'good' status by 2015, measured against a reference condition. The research achieved impact through an evolving process of co-production, in that academics engaged with user communities from the outset. Richards, Hughes and Horn (Department of Geography, University of Cambridge) worked closely with users to design a knowledge transfer guidebook to communicate restoration science to users.

This was distributed amongst Environment Agency (EA) staff to aid the planning and implementation of restoration projects. Further impacts included promoting floodplain restoration for flood risk management (Richards, as a member of an EA Regional Flood and Coastal Commitee); a rapid assessment method for river quality (Richards and Horn) that forms the basis of cross-boundary WFD compliance practices across the whole of Ireland; and knowledge transfer of EU WFD ecological assessment practices to China (Richards).

Submitting Institution

University of Cambridge

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Earth Sciences: Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience
Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Biological Sciences: Ecology

String Theory and Particle Physics Reach a Contemporary Art Audience

Summary of the impact

Few scientists in the UK have done as much as Dr David Berman and Dr Ben Still to bring the latest ideas and results from string theory and particle physics research into the contemporary art world. In 2010, Berman established an artist-in-residence post at QMUL's Centre for Research in String Theory, with Turner Prize winner Grenville Davey the first artist to take up the residency. This collaboration led to Davey creating sculptural responses to the Centre's work on generalized geometry and the role of duality, which have been exhibited widely. Berman has also collaborated with conceptual artist Jordan Wolfson for a work at the Frieze Arts Fair, which won the prestigious Cartier Award in 2009. He has given talks at the Institute for Contemporary Art, the Royal College of Art, Tate Modern and the Core Gallery, and will be curating further exhibitions in 2014. Still has initiated award-winning collaborations with artists, creating diverse artworks that draw-on QMUL's experimental research on neutrino physics, which have been exhibited at numerous venues. This work has transformed the practice of artists and brought complex theories and conceptual ideas to audiences that may not have had much previous knowledge or interest in these areas. Attracting widespread media coverage in both the arts and science press, the work has encouraged greater public discourse around string theory and particle physics.

Submitting Institution

Queen Mary, University of London

Unit of Assessment

Physics

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Pure Mathematics
Physical Sciences: Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics, Quantum Physics

CH6: Molecular and Isotope ‘Fingerprinting’ to Enhance Food Quality Assurance, Forensic Approaches and Wider Public Interest in Chemistry through Archaeology

Summary of the impact

Evershed and his research group in The School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, have pioneered a suite of novel molecular and stable isotope analytical chemical techniques for provenancing amorphous organic residues in archaeology, particularly for the elucidation of ancient diet and the origins of agriculture. Their on-going research continuously achieves impact worldwide at all levels. Impact has been actively enhanced via the involvement of Evershed and his entire team in hundreds of public engagement activities (art/science exhibitions and festivals, personal presentations, media interviews/articles/documentaries), school and college educational outreach activities (teacher/student conferences, items/articles in the educational literature and contributions to educational films/documentaries). Critically, their `fingerprinting' methods have found application in detecting food fraud in the vegetable oil trade, protecting the human population worldwide from consuming impure corn oil for ca. 15 years to the present day. Most poignantly, when called upon, their methods were pivotal in solving a murder case for the Metropolitan Police.

Submitting Institution

University of Bristol

Unit of Assessment

Chemistry

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Chemical Sciences: Analytical Chemistry
Earth Sciences: Geochemistry

Enhancement of early literacy skills in Year 1 children

Summary of the impact

This case study demonstrates enhanced early literacy through the application of a novel music-based literacy programme (Tune Time) developed by the submitting unit. In two Year 1 classrooms that have implemented the intervention, children have benefited in terms of enhanced phonological awareness as a result of Tune Time. The benefit is disproportionately stronger for those with weaker pre-intervention literacy skills, thereby reducing variability in literacy levels in the classrooms. Teachers also benefit from improved pedagogical practice and educational outcomes.

Submitting Institution

Anglia Ruskin University

Unit of Assessment

Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology

Place-names and the public: letting the landscape speak

Summary of the impact

Research undertaken by Dr John Baker at the University's Institute for Name-Studies (INS) through the Leverhulme-funded Landscapes of Governance project has:

  • actively engaged community groups and individuals in academic research as volunteers: fifty of the project's 350 early medieval assembly sites were recorded by volunteer groups and individuals, a number of whom were inspired to undertake further related research of their own;
  • enhanced public awareness and understanding about assembly sites through public engagement events, media coverage, `popular' publications (with local and national audiences totalling over 2 million) and freely available web resources, particularly the Key to English Place-Names (accessed by 18,913 individuals between January 2012 and July 2013);
  • informed practice at the BBC through the provision of expert advice on a range of onomastic matters.

Submitting Institution

University of Nottingham

Unit of Assessment

English Language and Literature

Summary Impact Type

Cultural

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration
History and Archaeology: Archaeology, Historical Studies

Gender, Sexuality and Development

Summary of the impact

Dr Kate Bedford's work has demonstrated the limits of existing frameworks for addressing gender and sexuality in development policy and has had a significant impact in four main ways. First, it has supported and influenced the work of the major NGOs (including Sexuality Policy Watch, and the Bretton Woods Project/Action Aid) in holding development institutions to account on questions of gender equality. Second, it has had substantial influence on the work of transnational public bodies (including UNRISD), challenging conventional wisdom and stimulating debate among policymakers. Third, it has had considerable impact on how development practitioners are taught, in the UK and beyond. Finally, it has enjoyed a sustained influence in shaping a new area of critical public debate, improving public understanding of sexuality and development and engaging diverse international audiences. In the light of increased global attention to gender and development (evident across several leading international institutions), Bedford's research has stimulated important debate about policy orthodoxy and has directly influenced several campaigns for policy change.

Submitting Institution

University of Kent

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Other Studies In Human Society

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